


Let Me Paint You a Picture

by StrawhatsAndDelibirds



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Mention of her dad, Other, They're all going to be together and I think that's great, but here we are, m/w/m, who if I had any say would be her dead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:55:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28099554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrawhatsAndDelibirds/pseuds/StrawhatsAndDelibirds
Summary: Art is a great medium in which to connect with others.Letters are also a great way to connect when the ordeal of being observed is far too great.
Relationships: Bernadetta von Varely/Ignatz Victor/Raphael Kirsten
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

The benefit of being out this late is that there was no one there for her to bother. She could move around freely and do as she pleased without having to worry about someone catching her. The blanket of night was truly a beautiful thing. 

The air tonight was especially nice. It was cool and accepting, unlike the blistering heat the sun wanted to subject them to. Maybe it was just because she was in a good mood, but the stars looked especially pretty tonight. She should grab her paints and some paper and paint it. Maybe also a candle. Because as much as the stars were bright tonight, colours weren’t forgiving. She didn’t want to waste good paint on thinking she was using the right colours and instead made a big mess of it.

Like she  _ always _ did. 

Its fine, Bernie. It’s the night sky and if you have a candle it’s going to be fine. She wanted to do this, and who knew when the next time it was going to be this nice out. She’d be an even bigger fool if she didn’t try to paint this. 

She’d quickly run back to her dorm. It would take her a few trips, because she couldn’t risk ruining stuff because she was clumsy and broke something. There was a nice spot down by the docks where the water reflected the sky beautifully. She’d set her things down there and set up once it was all there. 

As she walked, she started to feel better about this. This was going to be a great little painting. If she did it well enough, she could probably hang it up in her room. Or at least have it on her desk so she could see it as studied so she knew she could at least do one thing right. She was starting to feel so good, that she started to hum a little tune as she carried her stuff out. Quietly, because she didn’t want to wake anyone up. 

The humming came to an abrupt stop, as she saw someone else there in the dark. She couldn’t see any traits of them, but the horror came in that they knew who she was. She was the one holding a candle in the middle of the night. 

“Oh, you’re from the Black Eagles house, aren’t you?” It wasn’t a voice she recognized. 

But  _ they  _ knew who  _ she  _ was. 

They had probably heard about how she was the _ freak _ who didn’t leave her room. 

They must’ve been out here to  _ spy _ on her because they thought she was up to something. 

That she was doing something that she wasn’t supposed to be doing. 

“I-I’m not breaking any rules!! There’s no rules that say I can’t be out at night! I’m perfectly within my rights!” 

_ They _ were the one who was suspicious here. They were just out here in the dark waiting for her.  _ She _ was the real victim here, and she wouldn’t let them flip this on her. 

“I didn’t think that you were breaking any rules. I-I was just out here enjoying the view. I didn’t mean to startle you.” They said defensively. 

But it was too late. She was already onto them. She knew their game. They were trying to get her to lower her guard so that they could get her in some way. But she wasn’t about to let that happen. She was a lot of things, but gullible wasn’t one of them!

“You can’t trick me! You were just trying to scare me out here so I’d wake everyone up with my screaming! You can’t fool me that easily!” She wasn’t about to be made a fool in front of everyone like this. You aren’t going to get Bernie that easily, stranger!!

She’d blow out her candle and rush back to her room. They didn’t use her name, so the odds of them being able to follow her back to her room was low. Especially in the dark. They didn’t have the advantage she did of all the trips she had made to and from her room since she had gotten here, and they couldn’t follow her under the cover of night.

Running into her room, she closed the door and hid under her covers. No matter how slim the chance of them following her was, she wasn’t going to risk it. 

They must’ve thought that they were _ so _ clever, but Bernie has played this game before. She knew the  _ exact  _ maneuvers you had to do to make it look like you had been in bed sleeping the whole time and not doing things you weren’t supposed to. 

Even if they were to bring a professor in to talk to her about how she shouldn’t be up at night and that she wasn’t in trouble (even though Bernie knew for a fact that she would be) and how they were just here to talk, they wouldn’t believe them. 

Her technique was years in the making. She had immunity now and _ they _ would be the one in trouble because they were the one that woke a professor up in the middle of the night to tattle on someone who had done no wrong! Now who was the fool!!

As her heart raced in bed, she couldn’t help but realize that she was the fool. She had been too preoccupied holding in screams to keep her from bringing any more attention to herself, that she had forgotten all her things out there. Her canvas, paints, brushes, everything were still there by the steps of the dining hall. 

Now that jerk was going to have something to lure her out with later. 

Now she had to decide which one was worse: braving the market, or confronting that jerk and getting her things back. Neither of them sounded like good options, and she knew that no matter how hard she hoped her stuff wasn’t still going to be there waiting for her in the morning. 

Oh Bernie, you’ve really done it this time. 


	2. Chapter 2

Ignatz barely got any sleep that night. He couldn’t stop thinking about the girl from the Black Eagles he had frightened last night. She looked so terrified. 

Even if he didn’t think of himself as scary, seeing someone you didn’t know and couldn’t identify in the dark was terrifying. The monastery had so many ghost stories and tales of unidentified people lurking around under the cover of night, it was only natural that she would be afraid. 

Though what she said stuck with him. He was fortunate that the main focus between houses was between the Blue Lions and the Black Eagles, because most of the other students in the Golden Deer were at the very least polite with him. He didn’t have the time to look into what was happening with the other houses, but maybe there _ was _ bullying happening between the classes. 

He pushed around the oatmeal that he had gotten for breakfast as he tried to plan out what he was going to do next. He would have to decide whether he wanted to ask around to find out who she was so he could properly apologize, or if he wanted to ask a teacher, or if he wanted to talk to Edelgard directly seeing as she was her house leader. 

There wasn’t really a good choice for him to pick, because he didn’t want to drag people into this mess he’s created, and on top of that he wasn’t sure if he  _ could _ talk to Edelgard. She seemed almost too important to talk to. 

“Hey Ignatz, you feeling alright? You barely touched your food. How’re you gonna get big and strong if you don’t eat your food?” Raphael asked, briefly stopping between massive bites to talk to him. 

He still wasn’t sure why he was sitting with him in the first place. Raphael was charismatic enough to sit with anyone he wanted, he shouldn’t be sitting here with someone who’s family he shouldn’t be on good terms with. 

“It’s fine, it’s nothing.” It wasn’t, but Raphael shouldn’t have to deal with his problems. He’s had enough to deal with. 

“It can’t be nothing if it’s bothering my buddy. So what’s going on.” Ignatz wasn’t a good liar. He couldn’t just say something and Raphael would believe it. Well he would, he was a very trusting guy. But that didn’t mean Ignatz would feel good about lying to him. 

“I was out painting last night, and I accidentally ran into the purple haired girl from the Black Eagles and scared her so badly she left all her things there and ran. I feel awful about it, so I’m going to write her an apology note and my painting I did of the sky last night and I’m going to give it to her when I drop off her stuff. But I never got her name so I don’t know where to drop it off and I’m not even sure who to ask because I don’t want to make things worse than it is.” 

It only felt fair to give her his painting from last night. He might be making assumptions but frightened her before she even got the chance to sketch it out for herself. And it’d be a real shame if she didn’t get to have that beautiful night immortalized because of him. Who knows when they were going to have a sky that beautiful next. 

“Purple haired girl from the Black Eagles…” Raphael mumbled as he furrowed his brow, before his face lit up. “Oh, you mean Bernadetta?” 

Raphael knew her? 

Actually, that didn’t really surprise him. Raphael had a magnetic personality and people gravitated towards him. It’d make sense that he’d have made friends with students in other classes. 

“Would it be alright if you passed along her stuff for me then? I mean I don’t wanna be a bother and you can say now, it’s just it would probably be better coming from someone that she’s friends with than from a stranger who scared her.” 

He also could carry her stuff over to her in one trip. He certainly had the arm length and strength to do it. 

“Well, you see the thing is I kinda scared her myself. I didn’t mean to, but I snuck up on her in the greenhouse and she hasn’t forgiven me since.” He nervously rubbed the back of his head.

How could she be afraid of Raphael? He might’ve been big, but there wasn’t exactly anything scary about him. Everything about him screamed approachable. 

Though she was afraid of Ignatz, and he wasn’t sure that was something that had ever happened before. The closest he’s gotten was startling someone because the didn’t hear him come over. 

“Were you assigned to do work in the greenhouse?” That was the only reason that Ignatz could think of for him to be there. The greenhouse wasn’t exactly a place where Raphael went unless he had to. 

“No, but then I heard- uh, nevermind about why I was there. The important part is that I messed up and upset her.” It wasn’t like him to keep a secret, but Ignatz wasn’t going to press the issue. “Maybe I should write her an apology letter too! Maybe my muscles are too big and they’re scaring her in person.” 

“That sounds like a great idea. The only issue is figuring out how we’re going to deliver all this. Even if we are giving her things, I’m worried she’s not going to want to see us in person.” 

Even if she probably doesn’t know what he looks like, he feels as though it’d be a bad move to go up to her and mention he was the guy at the dock last night. 

“She spends a lot of time in her room, and our rooms all have our names on them. We could probably knock on her door and put all her stuff against the wall next to her door. And we could probably slip the letters under the door.” 

“That’s a great idea, Raphael!” 

Hopefully she won’t see it as them intruding in on her personal space. He would have to specify that he would accept it if she didn’t want to accept his apology. That way he wouldn’t seem as imposing and her space would still be safe. 

“Thanks! Now you gotta make sure you eat! You’re brains not gonna work good if you’re hungry. Plus look at how small you are.” Raphael gave him a friendly smack on the back. It was perhaps a little harder than he meant, and Ignatz wasn’t prepared for it so his glasses nearly fell off his face. 

Though he did have a point. He was already lacking sleep. If he added on hungry because his nerves wouldn’t let him eat, his letter would be bordering on incomprehensible. He needed to be clear in his note or he’d risk making even less sense than he was probably already going to make and make things worse. 

“I will. Thanks Raphael.” He said, trying to ignore the fact that Raphael was taking food off his own plate to make sure Ignatz had “enough.”

Ignatz was perfectly content with what he had, but he already knew he couldn’t say no to getting more food put on his plate. He learned this after years of spending time with him and his family. 

“No problem, little buddy.”


	3. Chapter 3

Today had only gone from bad to worse. First she ended up oversleeping, so when she finally got to class, everyone saw her and watched her take her spot. She already knew that being the last one there meant that everyone was going to have their eyes on here and she still went even though she knew she shouldn’t have. 

Then because she was _ late, _ Lady Edelgard talked to her after class about it. She had to lie about why she slept in and Lady Edelgard scolded her and told her to take better care of herself. 

And then since _ Lady Edelgard _ had a talk with her, Hubert wasn’t that far behind to remind her that it’d behoove her to strive to do her best as not to disappoint Lady Edelgard as she had better things to do than worry about her classmates. 

At least that was what she was pretty sure he said. She woke up in her room later so that last part could’ve just been a dream. 

Then after all that, she went to go see if her art supplies were still at the docks. She got there and there wasn’t a trace of them. Not a brush, or a paper, or anything. There was nothing to be salvaged. Now she was going to have to work on building up the courage to go to the market and buy new stuff. 

Things really were going Bernie’s way. 

That’s why she decided that she was going to stay in her room for the rest of the day and pretend like she wasn’t here if anyone tried to get her. She’d hide under the bed if she had to! 

After the day she had, she deserved to have some time to herself. She had plenty of other things that she could do, like write or do some needlework. But now what she wanted to do most of all was to paint. What was it about not having something that made you want to really do it. It wasn’t fair at all. 

Her peace was interrupted by some knocking at her door. She stood really still, and held her breath. Maybe if they didn’t hear her in there they would leave her alone. If she heard that knob jiggle she was ready to lunge for under the bed. They weren’t going to get Bernie that easily!!

But nothing came of the knocking. 

It was just the two, then an eternity of silence. Then she could faintly hear the sound of paper rustling under the door, as two envelopes popped into her room. She stared at them as they sat at the base of her door. 

There was no reason for  _ anyone _ to send her messages. The best case scenario it was her mom checking in on her. 

But there was also the chance of this being a letter from her father saying that she wasn’t doing good enough so he was pulling her and she was going to have to go home right now. 

Bernadetta wasn’t ready to go back home yet. She still had  _ months _ before she had to do any of that. Her grades weren’t the best, but she still thought she was doing pretty good. Besides there’s no way that her father cared enough to bring her back home. 

The suspense of not knowing the content of those letters might kill her, and she was just going to have to open them. She had to know  _ what _ it was she had to worry about if she was going to figure out how she was going to prepare for it. 

The first letter had writing that she couldn’t recognize. 

It was big, and barely legible. The fact that she already couldn’t gage what this letter was going to be about worried her. Because already the whole point of opening the letters hadn’t helped her any. She was supposed to get some sort of relief in knowing what was happening, and she was still lost. Now she was going to have to read all of it before she even remotely knew what was happening. 

“Dear Bernadetta, 

Sorry I scared you in the greenhouse a few weeks ago. You don’t have to worry about me telling anyone about you playing that instrument. I’ve even kept it a secret from Ignatz and my sister, and she’s not even here. 

I promise that I meant what I said, and that I do think you’re really good at it. I’d like to listen to you play again, but if you don’t want me to hear you play, then that’s okay too. Sometimes you gotta keep things for yourself that you don’t share with anyone. Like a really good steak. 

I’ll do my best not to be as scary next time I see you. I can’t make my muscles any smaller, but I can try and be friendlier. 

Hopefully your pal, 

Raphael.”

It was nice that he sent this letter, but the fact that she was getting it now made her a little on edge. Why was he apologizing for this now? This was weeks ago and he was _ still  _ thinking about it? 

Well she was too, but that was different. 

She still didn’t trust that that man was going to be true to his word and not make her put on a show for everyone. Did that mean that the next letter was going to be an invitation? 

Oh Goddess it was going to be an invitation to a party. 

That was the whole reason why he was apologizing. 

To lower her guard so he could get her better. 

She didn’t want to open the next letter, but she was going to have to. She had to know exactly what was happening, where it was, and when it was. She wasn’t about to let him get the advantage on Bernie. She could play this game just as well as anyone. 

In the next envelope, was another letter. This _ also _ wasn’t handwriting she had seen before. 

But this could’ve just been Raphael getting someone to write the invitation for him so that it looked nicer, but it was too much to be for an invitation. It was also rather plain for an invitation. She was still going to read through it to make sure it wasn’t. 

“Dear Bernadetta, 

I am so sorry about what happened last night. I was having a hard time sleeping, so I decided to go for a walk. I didn’t realize that I wouldn’t be the only one out there, nor did I plan to be out very long. I’m sure you had the same idea that I did once I got out there, and that’s why you had all your supplies out there. 

Unfortunately, you seemed to have been better prepared than I, as you also had a candle. I was only planning on doing my sketching out there, then moving to my room, but even then I should’ve been smarter and brought a light. It probably would have made things a lot better if you had also seen me. 

I’m sorry that because of my carelessness, you didn’t get to paint the sky last night for yourself. So to hopefully make things right, I painted the sky last night for you and left it on your painting supplies that I’ve left outside your door. I was worried that they would get broken after I scared you, so it only seemed right that I be the one to keep them safe and return them to you.

I want to make it clear that if you don’t want to accept my apology, then that’s completely alright. This whole situation could’ve been avoided if I had been better prepared and brought a candle of my own. I do however want to make this right, so if there’s anything else you’d like me to do, let me know. 

I hope I can patch things up, 

Ignatz Victor”

The guy from last night wrote her a letter too? She was so certain that he was trying to make her life miserable, but he seemed kinda nice here. 

But there was still the fact that she hadn’t actually looked outside her door yet. For all she knew this was going to be a prank to humiliate her in front of everyone, and the whole school was going to be gathered at the door to watch them make a fool of her. 

But she also did want her art supplies back. 

If they were there, then there’d be no reason for her to have to venture out into town by herself. She’d already have what she wanted. How she wanted them to be there. 

She held her breath as she opened the door. If they tried to gang up on her, they’d be beating up a little girl and that’d just make them look bad. Especially Mr. Muscles. She wasn’t sure what this Ignatz guy looked like, but she was pretty sure that if he was a friend of Mr. Muscles that she could guess that he was also pretty big. They would be the ones stuck looking like jerks. 

Waiting next to her door, were her easel, paints, brushes, and silence. Just like Ignatz said they would, and there wasn’t a trace of anyone else watching her or ready to make fun of her.

Okay, so maybe she could trust them a little bit. She wondered if they knew just how big a favour it was to bring them back. 

She also wondered if they knew just how worried she was over these because they weren’t where she left them. 

But she had them back now, so at least that was _ something. _

She carried her things into her room as quickly as she could. Today had already been enough without the added feeling of having someone staring at her because she was frantically grabbing her things and pulling them in her room. It was a lot easier to drag them in than it was to haul them all out there.

Just as promised, sitting on her easel was a painting. It wasn’t a big one, but it was certainly a beautiful one. 

Ignatz was an amazing artist. He really captured the beauty of the view from the docks. That was really nice of him, he definitely didn’t have to do that. 

Bernadetta didn’t have anything to hang it on the wall, but she could still put it on her desk. It found a nice little home leaned up against the back of her desk, so she could see it as she did her homework and studying. 

Her own art skills weren’t amazing, but she felt as though she should paint him something in return. She wasn’t quite sure what yet, but she was sure she could think of something. And a letter, she would have to write him back. 

Maybe Raphael too. Somehow they seemed a lot less scary now that they were communicating through letters. Even if they were at the same school together. 

All this left her feeling warm and happy. She couldn’t tell if it was because the day she had was so bad that it was just good by comparison, or if this was as genuinely as good as she felt it was. 

Bernie didn’t care. 

It was nice, and she was going to enjoy it for as long as she could. 


	4. Chapter 4

He found himself feeling restless in the middle of the night. This was probably his nerves getting the better of him, but he couldn’t sleep. He didn’t want to go out for a walk, seeing as his last one had turned out so abysmally. 

He had caused enough trouble for now, and he didn’t want to make it worse. 

He barely knew Bernadetta, but he couldn’t stop thinking about her. She was so convinced that he was going to hurt her in some way, that he couldn’t help but feel bad for her. Someone was hurting her, and knowing it was upsetting. Maybe if he was strong like Raphael he could confront them himself. 

Unfortunately he was still Ignatz. He could support her, but there wasn’t much else he could do. 

Gods he wished sleep would find him. All this late night thinking was unproductive. He was training to be a knight, and here he was cowering in his room thinking about bullies he didn’t even have faces or names for. He was going to have to do better if he wanted to make any progress. 

Even if there really wasn’t much to do at this hour. 

His train of thought was broken by the sound of something being shoved under his door. At the foot of his door sat an envelope. Ignatz didn’t get a lot of letters. He got the odd one from home, but he wasn’t someone who was getting letters from admirers or anything. He wasn’t like Hilda, so he already accepted that it wasn’t going to happen. 

If it was a letter from home, then there might be a cause for concern. It wasn’t exactly something he was woken up for, or alerted to, but the fact that this  _ could _ be a letter saying that there was some sort of trouble was also very real. It was the only real reason he could think of why he was getting mail at this hour. 

Taking a deep breath in, he opened the letter. A brief glance was enough to see it wasn’t anyone from his family’s handwriting. That meant that he could relax a little, because everyone was okay back home. 

Now to read the letter to see what this was about. 

“Dear Ignatz, 

I’m sorry about the other night. I was not expecting anyone to be out there, and that was sort of why I went out there in the first place. It was not your fault. I just got startled and I panicked. It is nothing personal. I am sure you are as nice in person as you are in your letters. 

I also wanted to thank you for the painting. It is wonderful. You really captured everything that was beautiful about that night. I am going to keep that painting on my desk and I will find an even better place for it in my room at home. 

As thanks for the painting, I wanted to paint you something in return. I know it is not as nice as yours, but I promise that I am getting better! I hope you enjoy it. I left it just outside your door, like you did with my painting supplies when you brought them back. 

Sincerely, 

Bernadetta von Varley”

Oh, he hadn’t been expecting a letter back from Bernadetta. It was a little odd getting a letter from someone who was only a few doors away, but he was certain she felt the same when she got the letters from him and Raphael. And she even painted him something on top of all this? He couldn’t wait to see what it was. 

He peeked his head out from his room, and saw the painting leaning against the wall waiting for him. He couldn’t get a clear look, but the sight of it alone made him a little giddy. He hadn’t had anyone draw anything for him since him and Raphael were little. It kinda made him feel like a little kid again. But in a good way. 

It took him a moment to realize what it was he was looking at. He knew he had seen it somewhere before, and it was recently. It was some sorta plant, but it looked very unique. Something that he definitely never stumbled across in the forests back home. 

He saw the bricks at the bottom, and immediately recognized it as some plant in the greenhouse. Which plant it was was still a mystery, but it could be something he looked into tomorrow. 

Even if he didn’t know what it was, it was still beautiful. The shading, the colour choice, all of it was so striking. Bernadetta was concerned that her art didn’t compare, but here it was making all his work so far pale in comparison. 

Though that was to be expected. She probably took her art a lot more seriously than he did. His was just a hobby, after all. 

But seeing her painting for him made him want to paint her something as beautiful as the plant she had painted for him. 

He’d still have to focus on his knight training, because that was his top priority of course. But maybe in his free time he’d try to focus more on composition and shading, and maybe be a little more mindful of his brush strokes, which were admittedly a little sloppy for his taste. 

He sat on his bed and smiled at his painting. He never thought that he’d end up with a painting from someone so talented. And as a thank you for his  _ apology _ of all things. He was so worried he had hurt her in an irreparable way, and here he was sitting with a painting that she had made for him because she loved the painting he did so much. 

The next painting he made for her was going to be better than the last, he was going to be sure of it. He’d have to find something beautiful to paint for her again. Between finding that and trying to improve, he certainly had quite the task ahead of him. But Ignatz was up for it. He didn’t get the chance to see her smile, but he could feel it in her painting. For now that was enough for him. 

But it was late. He should at least try and get some sleep. He had a big day tomorrow, and hopefully Raphael would be willing to help him find something to paint for her after class. 

He set the painting on his desk, and smiled. He still couldn’t get over how beautiful it was. Tomorrow his free time was going to be spent looking for the perfect subject for his next painting. It would be fine if it was during free time, and he was going to have to try a lot harder this time. 

Yeah. 

He could do this. 


End file.
